White House rejects secession petitions to guarantee 'unity of country'

Washington, Jan. 13 (ANI): The White House politely shot down the secession petitions circulating on the White House petition website.

It dashed the hopes of malcontents who had submitted petitions to allow their states to withdraw from the union in the wake of President Barack Obama's reelection last November.

Jon Carson, director of the White House's Office of Public Engagement wrote that 'democracy can be noisy and controversial, which was a good thing'.

According to CBS News, Carson offered the would-be secessionists a history lesson, explaining that the Constitution guarantees 'the right to change our national government through the power of the ballot - a right that generations of Americans have fought to secure for all. But they did not provide a right to walk away from it'.

He also invoked the sad history of the Civil War as a cautionary tale for those who would so casually seek a repeat of our bloodiest conflict.

He wrote that 'more than 600,000 Americans died in a long and bloody civil war that vindicated the principle that the Constitution establishes a permanent union between the States'.

Carson added that 'no one disputes that our country faces big challenges, and the recent election followed a vigorous debate about how they should be addressed,' the report added. (ANI)